Well how it started was that I restarted the PC with the drive out and when I logged back on it was no longer recognizable by windows. I clicked on My Computer and it doesn't appear there. The only CD drive in my device manager is my virtual dvd-drive for mounting on alchohol 120%. I tried this site for help HP and Compaq - CD or DVD drive is not detected steps since it's the same cd drive that came with the compaq PC. I dont remember what kind it is.

Hi and welcome to Geeks to Go. You could try running the cd gone patch. Go here http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/CDgone-t109781.html

Ok I ran the RedEdit and Merged thw CDGone reg file, but my CD drive still does not appear anywhere. Thank you for helping and anymore help would be nice if possible.

If it still does not show up after running the patch, check the hardware connections (power, EIDE cable) and the jumper settings. Does the drive power up when you boot the computer?

I have double checked all the cables and connectors, the drive, etc at least 4 times now. The drive powers up perfectly fine like there is nothing wrong with it. It still opens, and loads whenever I close it with a disc. I thought this would be a malware problem or something like that but cleaned my system of it and still the problem occurs. Im worried that if I buy a new drive, it will still not work, I want to make sure that doesn't happen.

This post has been edited by drizzledrizzt: Aug 19 2006, 08:03 PM

Try swapping the IDE cable.

Ill do that, which I havent tried yet. Ill get back to you.

Ok, I don't have an extra IDE cable, and the one to my hdd is too small. I dont have the money to buy another cable atm, so I tried switching up the jumpers and that didn't work.

This post has been edited by drizzledrizzt: Aug 19 2006, 09:32 PM

plug all the stuff in and reboot...
enter the bios, go to disk priority
select one of the priorities, and see if the drive thats missing is there.
change it back to the original and press esc.
dont save changes

if the drive was there, it bios detects but windows cant.
if it wasnt. something with HARDWARE is wrong.

ah I forgot! The bios detects it, BUT its just a big space as the drive name. It doesnt say [NONE] or whatever it just says [ ]. Which only means that the hardware connection is correct, its got something to do with windows.

This post has been edited by drizzledrizzt: Aug 19 2006, 10:25 PM

The drive name should show up in the bios. I will bet you dollars to doughnuts it's a bad cable.

My Primary IDE channel is my hdd, which shows the drive name. everything else besides my secondary ide channel is [NONE] and it is just a space

a space
that means it detects it but cannot communicate with it.
so try to update ur bios. get the download from the manufacturers website.
takea apart alll connections and do them again.
reboot
check the bios again